Putin together with RF govt to discuss the situation in economic cooperation with Ukraine

MOSCOW, April 09, /ITAR-TASS/. President Vladimir Putin together with the RF government will discuss Wednesday the situation taking shape, specifically, in the energy sector, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov has announced.

"A meeting with the leadership of the government has been planned out to discuss the extraordinary situation developing in economic cooperation with Ukraine, including that in the energy dialogue," Peskov said.

According to Gazprom data, at the beginning of April Ukraine owed $2.2 billion for the supply of gas. The company had to raise the price of gas for Ukraine in the second quarter up to $385.5 per 1,000 cubic metres, since the Nafrogaz Ukrainy broke obligations under an additional agreement that set the price of gas at $268.5 provided current payments for gas are made on time and debts are repaid.

Following the denunciation of the Kharkov Accords, the gas price grew by another $100 by virtue of cancellation of preference (zeroing) on the export duty on Russia's gas for Ukraine.

In response, the new Kiev authorities stated that the established price of Russia's gas did not suit them. "We do not recognize such a price. It is unjust and non-market one," said Yuri Prodan, Verkhovna Rada-appointed Minister of Energy and the Coal Industry. "We proceed from the assumption that the accords were reached at the end of 2013 and that the price of gas was set at $268.5, effective from January 1, 2014," the Minister pointed out. "There are no agreement-envisaged grounds to change the price or, rather, sharply raise it," Prodan maintains.

He suggests that the Russian and Ukrainian sides meet at the beginning of each quarter to reach agreement on a coefficient which adjusts the pricing formula and is conducive to the price of $268.5. "There are no obstacles to that," the Minister believes.